Wrath of the Lamb (Pre-Release)
"Wrath of the Lamb" is a new DLC coming to The Binding of Isaac on May 28th 2012. There will be alternate floors (which will "be shuffled into the game" and then randomly chosen from during play), new enemies, bosses and even a new class of items called "trinkets". Also available will be a new unlockable character, Samson, who will be acquired by skipping 2 treasure rooms. McMillen noted his willingness to put the addon into another Humble Bundle "later this year" if the Humble Bundle group are interested. A new trailer created specifically for the addon by James Id, also the creator of previous trailers for the game, was released on his YouTube-channel on the 6th of May: Similar in style to the Halloween update trailer, this short video announces the release date for the upcoming addon on May 28th on Steam. In it, Isaac raises himself up from the floor to observe his surroundings. On a scrap of paper, he writes a short letter asking for help from his cat Guppy, with a rough summary of the new features, such as a changed Basement (The Cellar), new items, rooms and monsters. Among the displayed features are a few new monsters, such as the six-legged, spider-like enemies (including ones clinging to the ceiling) and floating children as well as a few from the main game, like flies and Mr. Maws. Also, a shop is shortly shown with new items like a framed picture or polaroid photograph, a pile of bones, a reddish mass, perhaps entrails, a number of hearts and a strange rippled and curved object, which bears strong resemblance to the trinket called Curved Horn already seen in previous screenshots. The note Isaac writes says: "Dear Guppy, the basement seems different. There's tons more cool stuff. And more rooms. & more monsters? Send help!" Near the end of the trailer, a bright glow begins to emanate from behind Isaac, spreading outwards and lifting him up into the air, reminiscent of an angel's wings. On closer inspection, they appear to consist of spines, skulls and other bones, made of light. As Shown In one of Northernlion's Let's Play episodes featuring Edmund McMillen, there will be some item fusions. In the same video, McMillen also mentioned that the first alternate area known as the Cellar (alternative to the Basement) will feature a spider-heavy theme, both in terms of enemies and bosses. More info on the video itself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2cN4DkEQEE On RockPaperShotgun, there was a post describing a number of features: "So here’s what we know. For $3 you’ll get over 70 new items, including an entirely new category, trinkets, which provide passive bonuses. There will also be a new player character and a new, TRUE, final boss. “More of everything” is the key claim, and I’d guess that means enemies, levels, items, layouts, minibosses, tarot cards and bodily fluids." Edmund has said that one of the spider mobs will sound like a "Weeping Angel" from Doctor Who. In recent tweets, McMillen revealed that, while there is no exact release date yet, the developers are currently targeting the end of April or early May 2012. (This was later delayed until late May 2012 due to unforseen technical complications.) Also, the addon will be limited to the Steam-version of the main game upon release. No information regarding the Unholy Edition or Humble Indie Bundle version so far. On the 27th March, McMillen released four new pictures from the upcoming addon: These enemies are are a throwback to the monster in John Carpenter's movie "The Thing",which appears as a upside-down head with spider legs at one point during the movie. http://www.formspring.me/EdmundM/q/318514570735917658 Formspring confimation Additionally, the picture gives a better impression of the Cellar's look as well as giving a glimpse of a few new items, such as the unknown fly tear effect and the conjoined fetus. This is the first picture available to show a new alternate area besides the Cellar. The Catacombs (currently misspelt) are very probably the alternative for the Caves area. In this picture, we see several Gaper-like enemies tinted green and leaving behind green blood or poison. Note the stichted-up baby on the floor and the spacebar-item which appear to be connected (perhaps a "decoy" or a "turret" of sorts). Also, the player character wears a bandana, has one pricked-out eye (with a floating eyeball near him; possibly an item allowing for a detachable eye similar to Peep's) and a glowing Saint's aura behind him. It is probable that this is Isaac wearing the the new bloodlust bandanna item. The new playable character Samson is said to also have long hair. Also note the trinket in the upper left corner. The second picture to show the Catacombs. Isaac is displayed with just one enormous eye. There are also numerous Pooter-like new enemies around as well as a floating pink fetus who bears a striking resemblance to the obtainable item "Sister Maggy". Also note the trinket in the upper left corner.There also seem's to be a cross of some sorts hanging off of issac's head.There also seem's to be a tear effact that makes the tears bigger. Demonstrating the meshing of the old game with new features, this picture shows the Caves with the well-known enemies within. More interesting are the various items, such as a pink crown, yellowish glow, a tear effect turning Isaacs tears into teeth that appear to increase in size during their flight and a feather as a spacebar-item. Also note the trinket in the upper left corner. Currently, three preview tracks by Danny Baranowsky are available for The Cellar, The Catacombs and alternate Secret Rooms respectively: On the 31st of March, McMillen released another picture from the beta version. McMillen primarily wanted to show off a combination of items resulting in a huge laser blast. However, there are also a few other things on screen that sparked interest. For one, there is an odd-looking floating baby with huge red eyes and thick lips floating besides Isaac whose function is unknown, presumably a "Brother Bobby"-like item. Furthermore, Isaac's health display shows one half of a white heart, now confirmed to be called "enternal heart" an ultra-rare version of a heart pickup. Last but not least, also note the Trinket in the upper left corner. The list of known tinkets: Curved horn, Ace of spades, Goat hoof, Push pin, Red patch, Pinky eye. * In all photos it appers that there is an item in the spawn room. Actually the spawn room is full of items for Edmund test builds, as a beta testing purpose. On the 7th of April, Edmund McMillen posted the following tweets on his Twitter: *"expansion detail update: 10+ bosses, 100+ items, 20+ enemies, 4 chapters, 1 character, 6 rooms, 40+ unlocks, 4 new tracks, new final ending" Tweet *"there will also be 7+ new "random happenings" 5 new ultra rare pickups, 5 new cards, 4 new pills and other things i cant remember" Tweet *"oh shit i forgot to mention the 10 new challenges and buttload of new achievements!" Tweet *He also says that the expansion has taken longer than the actual game its self. Tweet On the 10th of April, McMillen answered a large number of questions, relating to the addon as well as other subjects on formspring. Below are quotes relating to the addon in particular: *"addon feels like a much larger and indepth game, but not a whole new game, no." *"in the expansion there will be a new challenge room that will ALWAYS yield an item :)" *"im still balancing new character [[Samson]] hes OP right now. his starting item (blood lust bandanna) is quite strong when fighting mobs." *"about 6 i think maybe 7 familiars i lost track" *"item like the [[Dople] that works with you and takes out enemies] might already be in the expansion :) *"i hope to have the trailer out around the 20th of april to announce the final release date and im still shooting for the very end of april for it but it could also release the 1st week of may depending on how much we are able to get done." *"trust me if i had the ability to a game that runs smoothly it would have been done ages ago. i have had a few offers on porting the game to C and if the publisher picks up isaac for vita it will get ported to C 1st and ill do my best to replace the old game with it." Over the next few days, Edmund McMillen gave more answers to questions on the same website: *"Wrath of the Lamb is installed there will be no way to go back, the expansion is just a fuller version of the 1st release.. there would be no real reason youd want to remove items/bosses/enemys from the game" *"i hope to have definite release date by the 20th... but its looking iffy" *"yeah Samson's the Berserker" *"there will be a button that says challenges at the start screen that pops up a sub menu with a list of 10 challenges. the challenges are all quite different but usually involve you beating mom, moms heart or satan with X Y and Z (items, curses, goals). beating each challenge will unlock an achievement and an item." *"no there will be no item taht lets you cheat the slots item that would allow one to play the slot machine for free because it would not only be super broken but also not fun to let players sit there for ages playing slot machines." On Sunday, April 15 a hacker group by the name of team-diversity hijacked edmund Mcmillen's twitter account and seemed to have deleted it. News on the expansion on Twitter through the official Twitter of Team Meat, @SuperMeatBoy. This picture was tweeted by the Team Meat Twitter account on the 30th April, 2012, some additions we can see in this picture are: *A Trinket called "Pinky Eye" *A new Gauntlet Room which specifically has bosses inside. Indicated by the Blood (Tipped) Sword on the map and the skull on the door. *A Curse Room, which can be assumed to be the room with the Red Whore of Babylon symbol on the lower left of the map. *A Item That Looks Like A Cross Painted In Deep Blood On His Forehead , and Blood Streaming From His Face It is confirmed via Edmunds Formspring that the map on the picture above is the result of the Curse Room, specifically the Curse of the Labyrinth, which merges two floors together, this also means that the merged floors have two Boss rooms, two Treasure rooms and two stores. On the 1st of May, Edmund McMillen on Forumspring was asked if The Wrath of the Lamb would be released before Diablo 3 15th. He then replied "the expansion will be out after diablo 3". Older Pictures *An earlier picture displaying the Cellar and a trinket. *The design for a new boss in the addon based on the original Duke of Flies, called The Husk. *A photograph of a demonic Isaac plushy and boss pictures in the background. *Promo art that might become a T-Shirt, as announced by @SuperMeatBoy.